Eucalyptus polita, also known as Parker Range mallet,[2]: A3 is a species of mallet or small tree that is endemic to the southwest of Western Australia. It has smooth, greyish bark, narrow lance-shaped adult leaves, flower buds in groups of between seven and eleven, white flowers and cup-shaped fruit.
| Eucalyptus polita | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Myrtales |
| Family: | Myrtaceae |
| Genus: | Eucalyptus |
| Species: | E. polita
|
| Binomial name | |
| Eucalyptus polita | |
Description
editEucalyptus polita is a mallet or tree that typically grows to a height of 3–10 m (9.8–32.8 ft) but does not form a lignotuber. It has smooth greyish bark that is shed in long ribbons to reveal orange-coloured new bark. Young plants and coppice regrowth have dull green, lance-shaped leaves that are 55–100 mm (2.2–3.9 in) long and 8–20 mm (0.31–0.79 in) wide. Adult leaves are the same shade of glossy green on both sides, narrow lance-shaped, 70–120 mm (2.8–4.7 in) long and 7–15 mm (0.28–0.59 in) wide, tapering to a petiole 10–20 mm (0.39–0.79 in) long. The flower buds are arranged in leaf axils in groups of seven, nine or eleven on a flattened, unbranched peduncle 4–10 mm (0.16–0.39 in) long, the individual buds sessile or on pedicels up to 1 mm (0.039 in) long. Mature buds are oval to more or less cylindrical, 6–7 mm (0.24–0.28 in) long and about 4 mm (0.16 in) wide with a conical, striated operculum. The flowers are white and the fruit is a woody, cup-shaped capsule 4–5 mm (0.16–0.20 in) long and 4–7 mm (0.16–0.28 in) wide with the valves near rim level.[3][4][5]
Taxonomy and naming
editEucalyptus polita was first formally described in 1993 by Ian Brooker and Stephen Hopper in the journal Nuytsia from material collected by Brooker on the Hyden - Norseman track in 1983.[4][6] The specific epithet (polita) is from the Latin politus meaning "polished", referring to the bark.[7]
Distribution and habitat
editThis mallet grows around salt lakes and on flat areas from Forrestania to near Marvel Loch in the Avon Wheatbelt, Coolgardie and Mallee biogeographic regions.[3][4][5]
Conservation status
editThis mallee eucalypt is classified as "not threatened" by the Western Australian Government Department of Parks and Wildlife.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Eucalyptus polita". Australian Plant Census. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ "Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) Approved Conservation Advice - Appendices for the Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt" (PDF). Department of the Environment. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
- ^ a b "Eucalyptus polita". Euclid: Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Brooker, M. Ian H.; Hopper, Stephen (1993). "New series, subseries, species and subspecies of Eucalyptus (Myrtaceae) from Western Australia and from South Australia". Nuytsia. 9 (1): 51–52. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ a b c "Eucalyptus polita". FloraBase. Western Australian Government Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions.
- ^ "Eucalyptus polita". APNI. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
- ^ Francis Aubie Sharr (2019). Western Australian Plant Names and their Meanings. Kardinya, Western Australia: Four Gables Press. p. 281. ISBN 9780958034180.